Panthers

The Rams currently hold the top seed for the NFC playoffs. Now their greatest challenge might be shutting out the distraction of being deemed a favorite to win the Super Bowl.

“Humility is only a day away,” coach Sean McVay said. “Our guys understand that.”

On Sunday the Rams will play a potential trap game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. The Panthers are 6-6 and coming off a 20-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

The Panthers are the Rams’ third NFC South opponent. The Rams already dispatched the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They play the struggling Falcons on Dec. 29 in Atlanta.

The Rams are 10-point favorites over the Panthers — and with good reason.

They have won six games in a row and scored at least 34 points in four of their last five games, including their 34-7 victory over the Buccaneers last Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

The Panthers feature quarterback Bryce Young, the top pick in the 2023 draft. Young has passed for 15 touchdowns with nine interceptions for a team that counts victories over the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys among its wins.

Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and outside linebackers coach AC Carter are former Rams assistants. The roster includes seven former Rams: defensive linemen Bobby Brown III and A’Shawn Robinson, offensive lineman Austin Corbett, cornerbacks Robert Rochell and David Long, linebacker Christian Rozeboom and safety Nick Scott.

Brad Marchand scored two goals and Sam Reinhart got the go-ahead goal on his 30th birthday in the Florida Panthers’ 5-2 victory over the Kings on Thursday night.

Anton Lundell got a shorthanded goal in the third period and Sam Bennett also scored for the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Panthers, who rebounded from a 7-3 loss against the Ducks to get their first victory on their four-game West Coast road trip.

Marchand has scored a goal in three straight games since returning to the Panthers from a one-game absence to travel to Nova Scotia to support a close friend who lost his daughter to cancer last month. The veteran tied the game late in the first period after taking the puck from Anton Forsberg behind the Kings’ net, and he added his ninth goal of the season in the third.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves.

Anze Kopitar got the first goal of his 20th NHL season and Corey Perry also scored for the Kings, who have lost three of four.

Forsberg stopped 19 shots for the Kings, who have started 1-4-2 at their downtown arena after being the NHL’s best home team last season.

Bennett put the Panthers ahead just 2:06 in, controlling and converting the rebound of Jeff Petry’s long shot.

Kopitar scored on the power play midway through the first, and Perry put the Kings ahead on a breakaway set up by a spectacular long pass from Mikey Anderson.

Reinhardt put the Panthers back ahead in the second, getting to the slot and firing a backhand for his seventh goal.

Lundell scored on a short-handed breakaway in the third after a turnover by Adrian Kempe.

Several members of the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers were the Kings’ guests at the game, getting multiple loud ovations.

Up next for Kings: at Pittsburgh on Sunday to open a six-game trip.